Modern crop production has reached astonishing heights. Today, you can get a crop literally out of thin air. Aeroponics allows you to grow any crops, placing the seedlings both horizontally and vertically. This feature has made it very popular in European countries in the field of decorative floriculture and gardening. In Russia, this type of agricultural technology is just beginning to be looked at and so far used exclusively in the greenhouse business.
However, at home, aeroponics is no less productive. It allows you to grow crops and ornamental plants all year round. At the same time, aeroponic installations are easy to operate, and their assembly does not require large investments.
What is Aeroponics?
Explanatory dictionaries define aeroponics as agricultural technology in which soil is not used in the process of plant cultivation. Translated from Greek โaeroโ means air. It is this environment that is the working environment. Roots grow without a substrate in the open air, saturated with water and nutrients through aerosols.
For the first time, the aeroponic growing method was tested by a Russian scientist, Professor Artsikhovsky. Then, in 1911, the technology of oxygen saturation did not receive a response from the public. However, several decades later, an American-born scientist named Went developed and patented a new method of growing plants without soil. It is thanks to Venta that the technology got the name โAeroponicsโ.
Also recently, a hybrid technique that has absorbed all the best from different technologies is gaining popularity among professional farmers: aero-hydroponics. The method consists in enriching the plants with oxygen supplied to the nutrient solution by an air pump.
Plant growing principle
The main difference between the technology is that the roots of plants never get into water or soil. For their cultivation, a minimum of fertilizers is used, while the crops grow much faster than similar varieties planted in the substrate. This effect is achieved due to the active saturation of plant fibers with oxygen.
All plant nutrients and water are obtained from dry fog โ an aqueous aerosol that is used to irrigate the root system. The main difficulty lies in the fact that it is necessary to moisten the roots with microscopic spray of nutrient solution at regular intervals. Therefore, the lionโs share of success in aeroponics depends on a properly adjusted drip irrigation system.
Advantages
Aeroponics is rightfully considered the agricultural technology of the future. One of the first to appreciate it was NASA experts who raised a batch of lettuce for astronauts in 1998.
The effectiveness of the method for agriculture could not remain unnoticed by Russian biologists and agrarians. Thus, under the leadership of scientist Martirosyan, the aeroponic installation โHarvest-9000โ appeared, focused on growing agricultural crops in large volumes.
The growing popularity of this method is quite easy to explain:
- aeroponics allows you to get an environmentally friendly harvest;
- plants grow much faster;
- the method optimizes the space;
- no pest problems;
- the harvest can be obtained all year round, regardless of weather and seasonal changes;
- the yield of oxygen-enriched crops is several times higher than those of soil or substrate plants;
- due to uniform drip irrigation, oxygen cultivation uses a minimum amount of liquid;
- ease of care and transplant;
- clean working conditions.
Aeroponics also has drawbacks. These include the high cost and maintenance of well-functioning irrigation equipment.
Failure of just one part can ruin the harvest.
In addition, the system must be kept completely clean.
Another feature is the overgrown root system. Unlike ground species, plants grown using aeroponics have long and powerful roots. But this does not affect the quality of products, and in some cases it has positive aspects. For example, when growing potatoes or other root crops.
Types of aeroponics
Today there are three types of aeroponics. Each of them is effective in its own way and depends only on the method of converting a liquid into an aerosol: with a high-pressure pump, with an air pump or ultrasonic.
Irrigation system using a high pressure pump one of the most popular. Its essence is the supply of a solution at regular intervals. Young shoots are irrigated with a solution every 5-10 minutes. With increasing intervals, the intervals are gradually increased up to 20 minutes.
Air pumped equipment works on the same principle. The difference lies in the solution delivery system. Instead of a pump, a hose is lowered into a container with water, the compressor supplies air through the hose, air under pressure raises the water in the container and directs it through the outlet channels to the roots of the plants. The pressure opens the damper (solenoid valve) and the solution is sprayed through the installed nozzles.
Ultrasonic method consists in supplying liquid by means of cavitation bubbles obtained by passing ultrasound through water. This type of aeroponics is used when growing young seedlings or greenery. Its main difference is the excessive heating of the liquid. At the outlet of the nozzles, the water has a temperature of about 400C, instead of the required 20. Therefore, ultrasonic installations need additional cooling equipment.
Where to get aeroponics
To date, there is no shortage of proposals for ready-made aeroponic systems. They can be ordered online on specialized portals or bought at the nearest garden hypermarket.
Buy ready
Both ready-made kits and individual components are sold. But in either case, before buying, it is necessary to calculate the number of plants and decide on the size of the cells, as well as the shape of the containers.
The containers are sold as opaque boxes with a tight-fitting lid and compartments for plastic pots. Tubing and nozzle configuration will depend on the number of cells.
It is important to consider the orientation of the containers: horizontal or vertical. The choice of ingredients will depend on the crop being grown. For example, for moisture-loving plants, it is desirable to purchase coarse nozzles.
Do it yourself
As a rule, for private use, the first type of aeroponics is collected, operating on a high-pressure pump. To assemble the system yourself you will need:
- Two-tier capacity. The growing tank should be large enough to keep out sunlight and have two levels. The upper one is intended for placement of seedlings, the lower one serves as a reservoir for water.
- If desired, you can install a separate tank for the nutrient solution. To do this, choose a container made of opaque material and with a tight-fitting lid.
- Shelves with pot recesses. They are installed in the upper tier and serve as holders. Shelves are made of moisture-resistant materials: plastic or foam. The shape of the shelf, the number of recesses and their size are calculated individually. The main thing to take into account is the fact that for large garden crops, larger containers will be required, while for ornamental plants with a small root system or greenery, you can choose more compact pots.
The irrigation system deserves special attention:
- Pump. Its capacity will depend on the size of the plantation. In any case, it should be powerful enough, but buying a special device is not necessary. It is permissible to use a pump from a machine washer or an aquarium compressor.
- Hoses supplying solution to spray nozzles and sealed connectors.
- Nozzles or nozzles for spraying solution. The best are the models with fine atomization. But it is advisable to focus on the needs of a particular culture.
- Timer. Mechanical models are reliable, but only suitable for adult crops, since they have a minimum step of more than 10 minutes. Electronic models are more expensive, but they are also versatile and durable.
After assembly, all that is required is a regular check of the system, tracking the composition of the nutrient solution and lighting.
You also need to monitor fungal diseases, remove infected specimens in time and update the irrigation system.
